Mather Group LLC. Sells 3,656 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Mather Group LLC. lessened its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 19.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,128 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,656 shares during the quarter. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the first quarter worth about $35,000. RFP Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 96.6% in the first quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 173 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $12,458,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at $114,223,763.89. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $12,458,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 458,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,223,763.89. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total value of $4,446,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,091,873.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 89,827 shares of company stock valued at $21,382,560. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AMAT. Citigroup dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.00.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ AMAT traded up $1.42 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $183.31. The company had a trading volume of 5,798,478 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,916,108. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 2.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.07, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.21 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $226.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $208.31.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.57% and a return on equity of 41.22%. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.00 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.39%.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.